1. With the year 2018 marking the 70^th anniversary of the UN peacekeeping operations (PKO) and the 25^th anniversary of the Republic of Korea’s participation in the PKO, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is hosting “The Seoul Conference on UN Peacekeeping” at a Lotte Hotel, Seoul, on December 3 and 4 to seek the way forward for the UN PKO. 

※ The ROK, after dispatching its first PKO unit to Somalia in 1993, has so far deployed a combined seven military units to such regions as the Republic of Angola, Western Sahara, the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste and the Republic of Haiti. A total of about 650 troops are currently deployed in the Lebanese Republic and the Republic of South Sudan.

2. With the year 2018 marking the 70^th anniversary of the PKO, the UN, led by its Secretary-General Guterres, has worked to move the PKO more effectively forward in the changing security situation. The Conference has been organized for the ROK, which has taken an active part in the PKO over the past 25 years, to join and contribute to such efforts of the international community.

° The Conference will bring together some 80 people, including government delegates from the Federal Republic of Germany, the Kingdom of Sweden, the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, the Republic of Indonesia, and other donor countries, about 20 in total; delegates from the UN, the African Union and other major international organizations; experts from such organizations as the International Peace Institute (IPI); and foreign diplomats to the ROK. At the Conference, the participants will review the recent progress in discussions on the PKO; share exemplary cases of individual countries, challenges and tasks; and discuss the way forward for the PKO.

3. At the opening ceremony of the Conference held on December 3, Vice Foreign Minister of the ROK Lee Tae-ho delivered opening remarks, in which he noted with appreciation that the PKO had been the UN’s flagship activity in the fields of peace and security over the past 70 years and stated that the ROK, which has taken an active part in the PKO, will continue contributing to efforts to move the PKO forward.

※ The ROK subscribes the world’s 12^th-largest contribution to the UN PKO budget and dispatches the 38^th-largest unit to PKO forces.

° In particular, the Vice Minister shared with the other participants the ROK’s tangible contributions in the areas of peace and security, including its donation of a mobile hospital to the Republic of Mali, Africa, in order to help the local PKO workers step up medical capabilities, as well as its implementation of the “Action with Women and Peace” initiative designed to protect women in conflicts and help them build capacity.

4. The government of the ROK, a responsible country that leads efforts to promote international peace, plans to contribute to work to move forward the PKO, the UN’s flagship activity, which, along with the country’s aspired service on the UN Security Council for the 2024-2025 term, is expected to help to enhance the country’s standing at the UN in the fields of peace and security.

* unofficial translation